Bates County Museum Receives State Historical Society Grant

Gary Kremer, Executive Director, State
Historical Society of Missouri presents a grant
check to Peggy Buhr, Bates
County  Museum Director.

The Bates County Museum was one of nineteen organizations throughout the State of Missouri to be awarded a 2011 Richard S. Brownlee Fund Grant to be used for the construction of a permanent exhibit depicting the Battle of Island Mound that occurred in October 1862. On Saturday, November 5th, Museum Director Peggy Buhr and Historical Society President Donna Gregory, traveled to Columbia, Missouri to attend the annual meeting of the State Historical Society of Missouri (SHS) at the Tiger Hotel. The grants were awarded by Gary Kremer, Executive Director of the SHS, and the presentations were followed by a luncheon program presented in the hotel ballroom. The Bates County Museum received the maximum grant amount of $500.

The new exhibit design will include three panels that will depict the “Settlers of Bates County,” the “Founding of the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry” and the actual “Battle of Island Mound and the Aftermath.” Plans also call for these panels to be reproduced into posters that will be easily transportable and available for presentations away from the Museum. Coordinating the 150th Commemoration of the Battle for next year is underway and will include a partnership with the Department of Natural Resources who will officially dedicate the Battle of Island Mound State Historic Site at that time. The last weekend in October 2012 will be filled with events dedicated to remembering and honoring the men and women who lived 150 years ago in 1862.